literary junkies - march 2016.

Here are this month's questions:

1. What are you reading right now? Tell us about it.

I just finished reading Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai on the African Savanna by Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton, which was a new addition to our school library's nonfiction section. I can't stop telling people about it because I learned so much! Joseph's tribe is a minority group in Kenya, where most people live what we would consider modern lives (like my college roommate, Njeri!). The Maasai are nomadic and adhere to traditional gender roles in which the women build houses and take care of children and the men care for livestock, hunt, and train as warriors. When Joseph was six, the Kenyan government passed a law that each Maasai family had to send at least one child to school - Joseph's family couldn't spare their older sons, who were needed to care for the cattle, but he wanted to go to school so badly that he convinced the school officials he was eight, the minimum age. He took to school quickly and found his passion in playing soccer. Being challenged to win a game by the President of Kenya turned out to be the gateway to a college education in America. All the while, Joseph straddled being a child of two worlds - flying to New York on airplanes which confounded his parents and participating in tribal manhood rituals his teachers and classmates didn't understand. Today, he works as a teacher in northern Virginia and works to help preserve tribal traditions in Kenya while improving the quality of life and education for children there.

2. If you could visit any book setting, which would you choose and why?

Could I give any answer but Hogwarts here? It is, after all, my literary second home. I'd love to see the cozy Hufflepuff common room, stroll through the greenhouses, visit the library, and eat a feast in the Great Hall! 

Realistically, I've wanted to take a literary trip to London since college! Not only is it full of Harry Potter locations, I want to visit Notting Hill, tour places associated with Jane Austen's life and books, see a play in Shakespeare's Globe Theater, and pay my respects to Geoffery Chaucer at Westminster Abbey.

3. If you could sit down with any book character, who would it by and what would you ask them?

I'd want to sit down with Alba, Henry and Clare's daughter from The Time Traveler's Wife, and ask her about her experiences in the past and present and how she controls what destinations she'll end up in. Time travel has always been the most fascinating fictional power/ability to me.

4. If you wrote a memoir and it was turned into a movie, what actor or actress would play you?

Since I'm not 100% white it's really hard to see myself in Hollywood actresses. She's older than me, but as a kid people were constantly telling me I looked like Winnie from The Wonder Years (Danica McKellar). The only other actress who I think I look remotely like is Ginnifer Goodwin. She is closer to 30 and would also be awesome, and I'm pretty sure she could sound like me since she's from Tennessee - plus, she's got a built-in younger version, Bailee Madison, who plays young Snow White on Once Upon a Time.


5. What have you recently added to your to-be-read list that you are completely excited to pick up next??

I just picked up Patrick Ness' The Rest of Us Just Live Here from the library - I've heard it's delightful. It's about people like Xander in Buffy - all of the sidekicks and best friends in worlds where magic and superpowers are part of everyday life. The blurb on Goodreads says, "What if you aren’t the Chosen One? The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death? What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again." It's a very clever premise, and I already know Ness is an awesome writer, so I hope it'll live up to my expectations.

What have you been reading lately? Come link up with us at 

Pink Heels Pink Truck and Lattes, Life, and Luggage!

literary junkies - february 2016

Here are this month's questions:

1. What are you reading right now? Tell us about it.

I just finished the Welcome to Night Vale novel by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. I'd listened to a few episodes of the podcast a while back after seeing some of Celeste's doodles inspired by the show and wondering who Cecil and Carlos were and why Tumblr was so obsessed with them! I didn't get obsessed with it, but I appreciated the weird, Lovecraftian surrealism - probably my favorite Night Vale offshoot is their Twitter account, actually. I didn't know about the book until a few of my fellow Female Geek Bloggers mentioned it, and then saw it under my library's new eBook releases. Just as the podcast took me a few episodes to appreciate, it took me a few chapters to get into the book, which focuses on two mysteriously connected characters, perpetually 19-year-old pawn shop owner Jackie and single mom (to a shapeshifting teenage boy) Diane. They live in the utterly weird desert town "where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep." The book's mystery begins when a bland-looking man in a tan jacket gives Jackie a piece of paper she can't put down, and a similarly forgettable man goes missing from Diane's office (Evan? Ethan? Everett? What was that guy's name again?). The trouble with living in Night Vale is knowing when something weird is actually weird enough to be worried about.

2. Have you ever read a book that made you want to immediately travel to that destination?

Nothing comes to mind automatically, but in college I desperately wanted to move to New York and I think it was because I was reading large quantities of "chick lit," like The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, where the main characters were usually in low-level publishing jobs in the city.

3. What is your ideal reading spot? (Ex. Reading nook in a library, in bed, in a hammock on the beach, etc)

I guess I should say my zebra chair in my classroom, because I love reading to my kiddos every chance I get, but I can't lie, my end of the sofa is indented lower than Mr. Q's because it's the perfect cozy spot to read, usually early in the morning or late at night. However, my all-time favorite reading spot anywhere in the world is the McGregor Room in Alderman Library at UVa - the closest I'll ever get to the Gryffindor Common Room. I also spent a lot of time lying on the grass with a book in the Ampitheatre on sunny days when I was in college. As a tween reader, it was this spot at my local public library.

4. If you wrote a memoir, what would the title be?

I can't even think of a new name for this blog, but I think my memoir would need to be called 30 Going on 13 because teaching middle school is the biggest part of my life, I love puns, and my students are my heart and soul (and best source of funny stories and quotes like, "School food is for hobos.")

5. One of our great literary giants has recently passed, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee. Did you read the book? Thoughts/opinions. What about Go Set a Watchman? 

I have a cat named Scout; what do you think? TKAM was required reading in 10th grade advanced English at my school, and even though most of my classmates were overwhelmed by the length and serious subject matter, I got hooked (it helped that my mom had already shown me the movie!). I can still remember my teacher describing it as a "perfect book" and explaining that she meant that there wasn't a single word or phrase in the novel that didn't need to be there. Since then, I've always tried to remember that good writing should be succinct. I did read Go Set a Watchman, and while I wasn't blown away by it in a literary sense I could really relate to Scout's struggle - when you grow up, how do you continue to love your family members once you see that they are flawed?

What have you been reading lately? Come link up with us at 

Pink Heels Pink Truck and Life with a Side of Coffee!

literary junkies - january 2016

Here are this month's questions:

1. What are you reading right now? Tell us about it.

I just finished The Demon King, the first book in the Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima. It was recommended to me by one of my former students and two of my current students are reading the series along with me. I knew they were fantasy, but had put off starting the series for a while because I'd really assumed they were "boy books" (I was in a very female-focused reading mood for pretty much all of 2015), and this series seems to attract my guys when they've finished the Ranger's Apprentice or Percy Jackson books. I was surprised to find out that The Demon King actually has two main characters - one male and one female! Han Alister, the male lead, is a reformed street thief who was practically raised by the mountain clan who taught him their ways when he was a child and sheltered him from his enemies when he left street life behind. The book's conflict is introduced when Han and his friend confront three cocky young wizards fleeing a magical fire in the mountains and Han ends up with a frightening magical amulet. On the other side of the Queendom (yep) is our female lead, Princess Raisa, who has tasted clan life herself and is now back at court and finds herself courted by many suitors who send extravagant gifts. Raisa isn't interested in her suitors or in a hurry to marry - she longs for freedom and to reconnect with the friend who has just returned from military training.

2. Are you doing any reading challenges in 2016? Share them with us.

The only challenge I'm holding myself to is my Goodreads challenge, which I've upped to 50 books because I'm trying to read every day in 2016. There are a few challenge lists I'm going to look to for inspiration when I'm in a rut - from Modern Mrs. Darcy, Popsugar, Stxrybooks, and Worthington Ave. - and I'm also working my way through the Newbery Medal winners I missed between being a kid and teaching kids, as well as the AP novel list so I can help my students be better prepared for high school course work. I'm planning a fun post for next week with some ideas and recommendations for these challenges!

3. Have you discovered any new authors lately? 

In addition to digging Cinda Williams Chima's work in The Demon King, I've recently become obsessed with Sarah J. Maas and I'm plowing through the Throne of Glass series - I'm in fantasy euphoria land right now, basically. Both of these authors get an A+ in worldbuilding.

4. There are a ton of book to movie adaptations coming out this year. Are you excited for any in particular or disappointed in any?

I haven't read The 5th Wave yet - when I saw the movie trailer, my first thought was "is that the book from the book fair?" I remembered thinking it sounded like yet another Hunger Games knock-off when I showed the book trailer before the book fair rolled into the school media center, but now I'm thinking I should read it before all the kids want to (and they will - movies have a powerful impact on what kids want to read) so I'm not out of the loop!

I've heard nothing but good things about Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, so I'll be trying to get that one read before the movie comes out in March!

5. What is a book you were looking forward to reading and then had a complete let-down feeling when you finished?

I tend not to finish books that aren't doing it for me - life's too short! The last book I can remember truly feeling disappointed by was Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick - it was a Printz award winner and Carnegie Medal nominee, and the premise intrigued me - seven interwined stories taking place on a Scandinavian island that has been home to Vikings, vampires, ghosts, artists, and lovers, exploring the magical bond linking the characters. Unfortunately, the overarching mythology of the story didn't interest me and it felt like Sedgwick was having to work too hard to make the seven stories connect. I felt like he was aiming for a YA Cloud Atlas, but I don't think real teenagers could engage with most of the stories.

literary junkies - december

Here are this month's questions:

1. What are you reading right now? Tell us about it. 

I just finished reading Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, after reading so many good things about it from book bloggers, and it did not disappoint. The main character, Celaena Sardothien, formerly the most notorious assassin in the kingdom of Ardalan, has been granted a reprieve from  imprisonment in a salt mine when handsome playboy prince Dorian Havilliard selects her as his entry in a competition his father, the king who has conquered and outlawed magic, is holding to select a Champion to do the kingdom's dirty work - in exchange for freedom. Coached by the Captain of the Guard, young and often judgmental Chaol Westfall, Celaena enters the competition, and the stakes become higher as her fellow competitors (all men, of course) begin to meet untimely and mysterious deaths. In beautiful gowns that hide the scars on her back, Celaena is introduced to the king's court as Dorian's friend Lady Lillien and becomes the envy of every woman at court - except a foreign princess who seems to know more than she lets on. Calaena leans that while magic may be illegal, it definitely hasn't been eliminated, and she has to stay one step ahead of whatever dark force is at work in order to protect herself and her new friends. Celaena Sardothien is fierce, stubborn, intelligent, and one of my new favorite YA heroines ever.

2. What were your favorite reads of 2015?

My absolute favorite was The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey - it was the one book that really moved me to tears this year, I was so connected to the main characters, Melanie and Miss Justineau. I'd wanted to read it ever since I saw it reviewed on io9. After reading, I thought M.R. Carey's use of third person point of view was skillful and perfect - at first it was a little bit unnerving, because I'd gotten so attached to Melanie, but being able to see the story's events from multiple characters' perspectives gave it more of a cinematic quality for me. The realization of what Melanie really was, and why she was being treated with such care and caution, was a punch to the gut, and the journey the characters must go on was tense, terrifying, and utterly believable. The two books that made me think the most were The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood and Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi - I couldn't have imagined how well they would complement each other before reading both, and I think both should be required reading for college students. I had the most fun reading Winter by Marissa Meyer - it was so fun and action packed, and I loved that each of the Rampion crew members (especially my faves, Cress and Thorne) got their happy ending.

3. What was your book-read total for 2015? Did you make your goal for the year?

I read 40 books, which was my goal for the year. I set a lower goal this year than I did in 2014 because I knew I'd be reading some longer books and I didn't want to feel the pressure to read random short books at the end of December just to meet a goal! I wish Goodreads would allow users to set a page number goal rather than a goal based on the number of books read.

4. How many books would you like to read in 2016?

I think I will stick with 40, and if I read more, that's great! I'd love to be able to read a book every week and set 52 as my goal, but I don't want reading to ever start to feel like a chore.

5. What is the number one book sitting on your Must Read list right now?

I got Mindy Kaling's Why Not Me? for Christmas, and I'm finally next in line for my library's e-book copy of Felicia Day's Everyone's Weird on the Internet, so I'll be starting 2016 with some funny ladies! I also want to read Diana Gabaldon's The Drums of Autumn, the next book in the Outlander series for me, and finish the Throne of Glass series and Graceling realm. There are also several new-ish books I haven't read yet by authors I love, like Ally Condie's Atlantia and Marie Lu's The Young Elites, that I want to get to in 2016.

What have you been reading lately? Come link up with us at 

Pink Heels Pink Truck and Life with a Side of Coffee!

literary junkies - october

1. What are you reading right now? Tell us about it.

I have been reading Charlie N. Holmberg's Paper Magician Trilogy. I wanted to read something magical for Halloween, and saw these titles on Kindle Unlimited. In Holmberg's alternate Victorian universe, young people can choose to go to school to train as magicians just as one would go to culinary school. In this world, magicians can only control man-made substances, and after graduation, the young magicians choose one substance to be bonded to for life - fire, metal, paper, glass, or plastic. Unfortunately, there's a shortage of paper magicians in England, so Ceony Twill is required to apprentice to a paper magician rather than learning to work with metal as she'd hoped. There are shades of Daddy Long-Legs when Ceony learns that her mentor, Magician Emery Thane, was the benefactor who paid for her scholarship to secondary school. After learning this, her heart warms a bit toward him and she is charmed by the possibilities of paper magic - like the cute little paper dog Thane makes her because she misses her terrier. She also learns Thane's secret - that he was married to Lira, a woman who became a practitioner of a forbidden form of magic - blood magic. When Lira returns, determined to claim Thane for only herself, Ceony has to literally venture into his heart to save him. It's a really creative take on magic, Ceony is a lovable main character, and even though the books aren't branded as MG/YA, they would be appropriate for younger readers.

2. What was your favorite book you had to read in school and which was your least favorite?

My favorite novels were To Kill a Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby - those two taught me so much about writing. I can still remember my tenth grade English teacher telling us there wasn't a single word in TKaM that didn't need to be there, and that stuck with me. I also really loved it when we read plays in class - I was a strong oral reader from a very young age and I was always that kid who wanted to read a big part like Juliet or Ismene in Antigone. My least favorite was The Scarlet Letter - I distinctly remember wanting to throw it out the school bus window.

3. What is your favorite book that was turned into a movie? Were you happy with the movie?

 

My favorite book, The Time Traveler's Wife, was made into a movie and I thought it was a good adaption of the book but some of my favorite scenes (like the Velvet Underground concert) didn't make it in. My favorite movie adaptation of a book is probably The Book Thief - the movie is beautifully made and captures the book's magical realism and depth of emotion.

4. Which book do you wish would be turned into a movie?

Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races is being made into a movie, and I'm very excited about that. I think Diane Duane's So You Want to Be a Wizard would be a really fun movie, but as far as I can tell it was optioned for film back in 2007 and it never got made.

5. Did you set any reading goals for 2015? How are you doing with them?

I use Goodreads to set a reading goal each year. This year my goal is 35 books - I've been very busy at work this year, and devoting more time to hobbies other than reading, so I had to set a slightly lower number of books as my goal to be realistic. I'm only two books behind schedule right now, which is fine with me.

What have you been reading lately? Come link up with us at 
Pink Heels Pink Truck and Life with a Side of Coffee!

literary junkies: august 2015

1. What are you reading right now? Tell us about it.

I just started reading The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. It was available on Kindle Unlimited, and I knew it was set in the Lowcountry, so I snapped it up! All I know so far is that it's about a man who lives with his family on Sullivan's Island (I was just there a few weeks ago!) and is trying to overcome some childhood trauma that left him estranged from his parents.

2. What books have you just picked up lately?

I got I Am Malala on sale at Costco, The Astronaut Wives Club on sale at Barnes and Noble, and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Up the Down Staircase, and the first Poldark novel from Kindle Unlimited (I try to download at least two books a month on my Kindle to make the subscription worthwhile!)

3. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?

I almost always have several books going at once - usually a literary, romance, or historical fiction novel that I'm reading at home, a YA book that I want to recommend to students in my classroom, and a nonfiction book or memoir to carry around and read in waiting rooms and such.

4. What makes you love a book?

For me, it's all about good characters - if I can't find at least one character in the story to love, I can't truly enjoy the book, no matter how well it's written.

5. This one is totally random but Fall is just around the corner and we want to know...what's your favorite cookbook?

If I'm being honest, I use Pinterest as a cookbook more than anything else! My mom got me Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible shortly after Mr. Q and I got married and I've used it quite a bit, as well as some well-loved fundraiser cookbooks that were hers in the 1970's and 80's and include some of my favorite recipes. I really want to try the Nom Nom Paleo cookbook because I'm trying to eat more real/whole foods in my quest to get healthy - I love Paula Deen, but she's not going to help me beat diabetes!

literary junkies!

1. What are you reading right now? Tell us about it. 

Despite having several Iranian-American friends in high school and college, I knew basically nothing about the Islamic Revolution until reading Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis in college. When I spotted Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi at a secondhand book sale, I recognized it from lots of recommended title lists. It's a memoir written by a literature teacher who attended college in America and returned to her home in Iran just as the revolution was beginning. After she took her first teaching job at the University of Tehran, Iran's laws became increasingly restrictive and eventually abusive toward women, and she was eventually forced to resign for refusing to wear a veil in the classroom. After the war with Iraq, an acquaintance convinces her to return to teaching, which she has missed terribly, although her more conservative students frequently challenge her choice of "decadent" novels like The Great Gatsby and Daisy Miller. She and a few of her most passionate female students decide to start their own book club, meeting on Thursday morning to discuss everything from Lolita to Pride and Prejudice, and along the way her "girls" become like daughters to her. The book really forced me to think about how dangerous fundamentalism can be when the lines of church and state are blurred and corrupted, and about how our perceptions of literature are shaped by our own backgrounds and experiences. I've added Professor Nafisi's syllabus to my TBR pile.

2. What book reminds you of summertime as a kid?

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis - I finished my first reading of the Narnia books in the back of my parents' car while being taken to summer camp. When I got to the book's ending and realized, in a way my 11-year-old brain really couldn't put into words, that the whole series had been an allegory for God's kingdom, I started crying. My parents thought I was upset about going to camp and were ready to turn the car around until I explained as best I could that I was crying because my book made me so happy. They probably talked about what a weird kid they had after that.

3. What book did you have on your summer reading list that truly nailed it as a summer reading favorite?

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd - a really creepy novel inspired by H.G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau, but then I remembered how much I loved Rebecca last summer. I'd downloaded it because it was a Kindle deal and had a cool name, and got completely sucked in to the main character's desire to find her father and her inherited obsession with scientific discovery, the isolated island and the two men she feels torn between. For some reason, I guess I need to counterbalance hot, sunny summer days with suspenseful Gothic mysteries?

4. Who is your favorite author and why? Give us your top recommendation by them. 

As an English major and teacher, there is no way I can choose one favorite author, so I'll narrow it down to one genre. My favorite YA author is Maggie Stiefvater - not just because of her books but because she has a great online presence and I got to meet her at a reading conference for teachers! Her Raven Cycle series is really popular right now and has developed a fandom, but my favorite Stiefvater book is the stand-alone The Scorpio Races, in which she takes the myth of the water horse and builds a whole world. It's full of action, romance, and amazing description (I use it as a mentor text in my class!), and has a very timeless quality that I think will make it a YA fantasy classic.

5. Fall Book Reading lists are starting to make their appearances. What are you excited to read that's being released this fall?

Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid (August 4th) - Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they'd never, ever do in high school.  Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. 

This sounds like such a perfect back-to-school read - I love books about male/female best friendships and how complicated the can be, and the "Never List" is a fun concept.

Dream Things True by Marie Marquardt (September 1st) - A modern-day Romeo and Juliet story in which a wealthy Southern boy falls in love with an undocumented Mexican girl and together they face perils when ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) begins raids on their town. 

I cannot resist a Shakespeare retelling, particularly Romeo and Juliet which is the play that started it all for me. This sounds like a really unique, creative twist on the familiar story.

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling (September 15th) - Kaling shares her ongoing journey to find contentment and excitement in her adult life, whether it’s falling in love at work, seeking new friendships in lonely places, attempting to be the first person in history to lose weight without any behavior modification whatsoever, or most important, believing that you have a place in Hollywood when you’re constantly reminded that no one looks like you.

I love Mindy and I adored Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, so I'm sure her second collection of essays will be equally awesome.

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer (November 10th) - Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, despite the scars that mar her face, and despises her stepmother, Queen Levana. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and find their happily ever afters.

The Lunar Chronicles is one of my favorite recent MG/YA series, so I'm very anxiously looking forward to the conclusion. I hope Meyer can tie up all the lose ends in a way that is satisfying but not too perfect or cheesy.

literary junkies

1. What are you reading right now? Tell us about it.

I'm finally getting around to reading Graceling by Kristin Cashore and loving it - it's a great blend of Hunger Games style strong female MC and Narnia-like world building that reminds me of the Tamora Pierce's books I read as a teen. Cashore's mythology is really unique - in the books' world, certain people are born Graced - they have some specific skill that is amplified. It's obvious when a child's eyes settle into two different colors that he or she is Graced, but what talents he or she actually has isn't totally clear until adolescence. The main character, Katsa, inspires fear in those around her - after all, she can kill a man with her fingertip - until she gets entangled in another country's affairs and in the arms of a prince who believes there's more to her Grace than killing.

2. What are your top 3 reads for summer?


I can't wait to read Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my all-time favorite books and a huge influence on me as a writer. I think it will be fascinating to read the story she created before To Kill a Mockingbird, to find out what happened to Jean Louise Finch (obviously, grown-up Scout will be awesome, and I would bet money that she'll be a writer) and how the sleepy Southern town of Maycomb adjusts to the 1950s. Did Scout ever get out of Maycomb? Is Atticus still around? Is Jem married with six kids? Also, what happened to Dill? THESE ARE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS.



I want to read Sarah Dessen's new book Saint Anything because it sounds so different from her other work and she's always been one of my faves (as well as a super sweet person). The plot of Saint Anything includes some dark elements - drunk driving and a sibling's jail sentence - along Dessen's signature themes of belonging and finding self. Also, isn't that cover art gorgeous? I'll probably wait for the paperback so I can add this one to my classroom library - I always have one or two girls who get just as hooked on Sarah's tales as I was at their age.



Finally, I would like to finish reading Leigh Bardugo's Shadow and Bone - I started leafing through it while we were killing time at Barnes and Noble and before I knew it I was 77 pages in! The main character, Alina, is so compelling - when her best friend is in danger, her apparent magical powers manifest, and she is taken away to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elites that rule her kingdom through fear. The tone is serious and full of mystery. It should be a good follow-up to Graceling.

3. Do you have a favorite book that you like to re-read?

The book I've probably read the most is Emma by Jane Austen - I used to reread it very purposefully every year but haven't done that in a while. I've reread some of my favorite books so many times they are falling apart - The Time Traveler's Wife (particularly Henry and Claire's date to a Velvet Underground concert and their wedding day), The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing (usually I skip to one of my favorite short stories from that book), and Speak (especially the scene where Melinda skips school and ends up spending the day just hanging out in the hospital) have all seen better days. I also get a Harry Potter hankering every once in a while, but I usually just revisit favorite chapters rather than the whole book.

4. Do you have a favorite reading spot?

I'm not picky, but I usually end up wrapped in a blanket on the end of our couch or outside on the patio.

5. Do you enjoy a sipping on a beverage while you read? If so, tell us your favorite drink pairing!!

Usually coffee or hot tea. I have to have a hot drink while I write, too - apparently there's some kind of connection in my brain.

literary junkies - june update

1. What are you reading? Tell us about it!

I just started Part 2 of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl, and let me just say, this book is insane.  I can't exactly say that I like it - the main characters are not good people - but it's written in such an interesting way that I feel like I owe it to myself to read the whole thing.

2. Library or bookstore?

My mom taught me to love the library at an early age, signing me up for the summer reading program at our local branch every year and taking me to get new books every week since the school library didn't let me get as many as I wanted!  In my childhood hometown, our library has gone through three different buildings in my lifetime, getting bigger and bigger with each upgrade.  In my new town, we have a really nice downtown library that Mr. Q and I both belong to, but I'm super spoiled to be a YA lover who works in a middle school - my classroom is right beside the library and the secretary lets me know when a new book I'll like has arrived!

3. What book(s) have you read and re-read several times?

I've read all of the Harry Potter books and all of Jane Austen's novels several times, I read Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Macbeth in both high school and college, and I've read The Outsiders about 46 times now since I teach it as a class novel!

4. What is the first book that made you fall in love with reading?

Oddly enough I can still remember the first book I was able to decode as a toddler - it was a Little Golden Book about Donald Duck and his nephews.  I don't remember why I liked it so much, but my parents had read it to me so many times that I memorized the text, then started to match the words I knew to the letters on the page.  I was super proud of myself and wanted to "read" the book to everyone I saw.  The first books I remember loving in elementary school were the Henry and Mudge series - I used to pretend that I was Henry and my dog was Mudge, and I'd reenact their adventures.

5. Who's your favorite author? Tell us so we can binge-read!

This is a crazy hard question!  If it's binge-reading you're in the mood for, I consider Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series the literary equivalent of Pringles.  In terms of an author who I actually want to be real life friends with, YA fantasy author Maggie Stiefvater has an amazing way with words (I use her book The Scorpio Races to teach my students about figurative language) and is very kind in person - I met her at an English teacher's conference. My favorite book of hers is The Raven Boys.